Star Trek Hancock: The Journey Home
by Ghost Snipe
Summary: Hancock is lost in the Delta Quadrant. This novel focuses on her journey back to the Omega Quadrant. It will also include Omega 4's acceptance into the Federation of Planets.
1. Prologue

This writer does not own Star Trek or any of its affiliates. He only owns his own ideas and story line.

Prologue

"General Quarters, General Quarters all hands man your battle stations. Starboard side up and forward port side down and aft. All department heads check in through DC Central. This is not a drill, General Quarters, General Quarters, all hands man your battle stations. Set condition Zebra throughout the ship. The smoking lamp is out throughout the ship." Will Morrill woke up to the clanging of the klaxion and the sound of the words realizing that the ship was probably under attack. Suddenly there was a shudder near the rear of the ship and he knew that they were under attack. Being a battle-hardened carrier captain he knew that he needed to get to his station in CIC. He quickly put on his clothes and headed out for the bridge. When he arrived he headed down the ladder to CIC, went through the hatch and was sealed inside.


	2. Chapter 1 The Journey Begins

This writer does not own Star Trek or any of its affiliates. He only owns his own story line and ideas.

Chapter One

The Journey Begins

"The ship is ready to jump sir" came the statement from the mouth of his first officer. Logan looked around and said "Alright, let's get to it. Let the ship know that we are going to jump, and then count it down." Shelley calmly picked up the receiver and pushed the button for ship-wide communication and spoke: "This is the first officer, prepare to jump, in five, four, three, two, one" and that moment Logan said "execute." The helmsman, Petty Officer Riley, turned the key and pushed the jump button and everything went blurry. The stars became long streaks of light, and as the ship seemed to be expanding (because of the G-force) every person could feel the pressure against his or her body. It would only last for a minute, and everyone was pretty used to this feeling now anyway. It had become old hat, or as second nature as breathing so no one really minded. When the jump was complete the stars became dots again and everyone was able to breathe normally.

Logan called down to Schiff and asked for a location. They asked for a few minutes to check the stars against the known star maps that were given to them by Star Fleet, and then they called back up and reported that they had jumped approximately 50 light years. Everyone on the bridge was elated to hear that. Shelley looked at Logan and saw the worried look on his face and asked "What's wrong? We just traveled 50 light years in a few seconds and you're acting like we are no closer to home." Logan responded "I'll feel much better when I find out how much fuel that jump costs us." Logan stood up and turned around saying "Shelley you have the con. I am going to Main Control." Shelley took her place in the captain's chair and proceeded on at flank speed.

* * *

**_Shudder after shudder the Yorktown shook from the beating it was taking from the unknown enemy. Morrill ordered a lock of rear sparrows on one of the ships and to fire, but Petty Officer Lynnix replied "I'm sorry sir the lock isn't working on these ships. I don't know how to lock in on them." Morrill quickly moved to the console and looked at the panel and said "their shields are in constant flux, so you have to watch when they get to their lowest point, then lock them in, like right now" he hit the aim lock key and the aim zeroed in on the ship, and a sparrow left the box behind the superstructure. The ship tried to maneuver out of the way, but the sparrow found it's mark hitting the ship amid-ship causing the ship's shields to drop to 20 %. Then Morrill sent another sparrow which went through the remaining 20% and hit the ship causing fire on several decks of the enemy's ship. When this happened there was a round of cheer's both in CIC and on the Bridge._**

**_A call came down from the Bridge "Good Job guys, now see if you can duplicate that, we have nine more ships out there and our cats still are not working. Captain Cullens out." Morrill patted Lynnix on the shoulder and said "keep your eye on those shield modulations." "Yes sir" she said with a smile, and picked out the second ship to target._**

* * *

Logan walked down the ladder into Main Control where he was met by the Chief Engineer Cmdr. Mason. "What do you have for me Commander?" Logan asked. "Well" he began "the jump here used up over half our fuel, and if we try five jumps per day, we'll probably run out of fuel before we reach home. I think that the safest thing would be to make two jumps per day, and I know that it will take much longer, but it will ensure that we have the fuel to get there." "Ok, I'll break it to the crew" Logan said. He looked around and asked "Is there anything you need down here?" "Not really" Cmdr. Mason replied, "We've got a full crew so we should be able to stand our watches without causing a hardship." Logan nodded his head and ascended back up the ladder.

When he reached the bridge Shelley stood up relinquishing the Captain's chair to him. He sat down and she gave him an inquisitive look, he looked down, closed his eyes and slowly shook his head. Her reaction, bowing her head, letting out a dreaded sigh, told him that she understood. Logan picked up the receiver to the sound powered phone on the ship's 1MC and pushed the button for "Ship-Wide" and said "This is the Captain. I have spoken to Cmdr. Mason, our Chief Engineer; a he assures me that to make five jumps per day would put us out of fuel before we get back to the Omega Quadrant. The only safe thing to do is to make two jumps per day. It will take longer, but the fuel will go further. So as hard as it is to hear, I have decided to only make two jumps per day. We'll make one in the morning and one in the late afternoon. The rest of the time we will travel at full speed. McDaniel out."

He turned the bridge over to Lt. Foreman and requested Shelley to join him in his cabin. When they got there he called the Brig and ordered Q to be brought to his cabin. Shelley asked: "You aren't going to airlock him are you?" Logan chuckled and said "As tempting as that is, nothing that grandiose. I'm just going to let him know that he will be confined to solitary confinement until we get home whereas at such time he will be transferred to Leavenworth Federal Prison. He can have one hour per day on a secluded space on the hanger. The only human contact he will have is his Marine Guards." Shelley smile and said "If he thought his life was mundane before he is in for a real surprise now."

Twenty minutes later there was a knock at the hatch, Logan said "Enter." Two Marines came in followed by Q in shackles who was followed by two more Marines. The two Marines in front separated allowing Q to be seen by the Captain. Q said "O thank God, Captain I know I messed up…" Logan broke in and said "Don't thank God because I have brought you here to make your life harder. Your little "messed up" here has cost the people on this ship at least 4 years out of their lives…" Q broke in "Captain, I can get you home immediately if you'll just allow me to work on your computer." Logan looked at Q and asked "Do you really expect me to trust you anywhere near this ship's computers? You make decisions with no regard to the lives of others. You only consider your own feelings. You are clearly a narcissistic sociopath, who thinks of no one but himself; who has absolutely no conscience. There is no way that I am going to allow you anywhere near one of our computers. I simply do not trust you. I would rather take 4 or 5 years to get home rather than to take a chance on you getting close to our computers and send us to God knows where. So you will be placed in Solitary Confinement until we get back to Earth where you will be transferred to Leavenworth Federal Prison for the rest of your life. While on board, your meals will be brought to you and you will have one hour per day on a secluded spot on the hanger bay for exercise." Q said "What about my working in the restrooms?" "No longer your job" Logan replied. Then he looked at the guards and said "Take him back." The guards took Q and left the Captain's cabin. Logan sat back in his chair scratching the back of his head looking at Shelley who said "It was the right thing to do you know." "I know, but I feel like we would be safer blowing him out an air lock" Logan replied. Shelley smiled and walked out of the room.

_One Week Later:_

"Captain's Log: May 16 2408 14:00 Hrs. We completed our morning jump and all went well. The crew still isn't exactly happy about only jumping twice daily, but it is dealing with it. I wish there was a way to get home quicker, but…" his log recording was interrupted with the following "Captain McDaniel, report to the Bridge, Stat. Captain McDaniel, report to the Bridge, Stat." Logan turned off the recorder and pushed the button for the bridge and picked up the receiver and said "Bridge this is the captain, what's wrong?" Shelley came on and said "Sir you need to come to CIC immediately, I think we have made contact with home." Logan stood up and said "All Stop." And with that he headed toward his door where he was met with his detail who escorted him to the bridge


	3. Chapter 2 Phone Call Through A Wormhole

This writer does not own Star Trek or any of its affiliates. He only owns his own story line and ideas.

Chapter Two

A Phone Call Through A Wormhole

By the time Logan reached CIC everyone was hovered around the communications console. Shelley was seated at the console "Hancock to Cloud Williams do you copy?" Logan looked at her, and she said "Don't you give me that look, I heard Marsha talking to Captain Sanchez, and so did everyone else down here." Logan looked around and everyone affirmed what Shelley was claiming. "Ok" Logan said "let's get turned around and see if we can't get back to the place where you picked up the signal and see if we can pick up their signal again. He called up to the Bridge and instructed the helmsman to make a 180 degree starboard turn and move back to the point where the signal was heard, but to only move at thruster speed. He called Schiff and put them on alert with their sensors to see if they could pick up anything.

"I don't believe that Fleet Command is giving up on them. Logan would never give up on us, and I don't feel like giving up on him and the Hancock is right" Logan heard Marsha say. He immediately ordered an all-stop then he hit the transmit button and said "Marsha, can you hear me?" Marsha kept talking to Sanchez and Logan called Schiff and asked if they could boost the power, they said "go ahead and try again." "Marsha, can you hear me?" Marsha stopped talking and said "I swear I thought I heard Logan's voice" but Ramona said "I didn't hear anything, but there is a lot of noise over here." Logan tried again "Marsha can you hear me?" Marsha realized that she was indeed hearing her former Captain and she said "Logan…is that you?" Everyone was cheering, and Logan said while laughing "Yeah, it is, it is so good to hear your voice." Tears came to Marsha's eyes and she said "It is good to hear from you. Fleet Command has decided to call off a search for you, and Mary and Stephanie as well as Ruth are all upset." Logan said "Tell them dad, Joe and I are all fine. We are in the Delta Quadrant." "What on earth are you doing there?" Marsha asked. "It's a long story, the short version is that Q decided that he wanted to be assimilated so he broke away from his guards and got to a computer console" Logan explained. Marsha sighed and said "I wondered if taking him aboard was a wise idea. Can he get you back?" Logan said "I have him locked down in solitary confinement. I can't trust him. I don't know where we would end up if I let him near one of our computers." "Yeah, you're probably right" Marsha agreed.

Logan then asked "Are you still having problems with the Borg?" Marsha said "You know the weirdest thing happened; right in the middle of a battle, one they were doing very well in, they all just disappeared and we haven't seen hide nor hair of them since." Logan smiled and said "that's because we shot four missiles at Unimatrix Zero One that contained our nano-virus, and then we sat back and watched them return to try to save their home. The last time we saw them we saw their cubes falling to pieces." Logan could hear Marsha giggling like a school girl and he could hear the cheering in the back ground.

Marsha asked "How is it possible that we are able to talk?" "I'm not sure, it could be a worm hole or something like that, but I am going to get off because I am going to give everyone two hours to make a five minute recording and then I will send them to you in a log buoy through this, whatever it is. Can you wait around for it?" Logan asked. "You bet, but make sure you, Joe and Jack get one in for your families too" Marsha replied. "We will" Logan responded.

Logan then got on the ship-wide 1MC and informed the crew to go to a computer console and make a five minute message to their family back home so it could be connected to the log buoy. He then went to his father's quarters to inform him. When he got there Jack was already finished making his recording. He turned to Logan and said, "Anything you want to say to your mother?" Logan said "Yes" then he hit the record button and said "Hi mom, I wish I could talk to you face to face, but I can't. I love you, and Joe and I will look out for dad. We all love you very much." Then he released the record button and said "I guess I'll go and make one for Mary and Stephanie now. I really don't know what to say because I don't really want to tell them that I am going to be stuck out here for the next four to five years." Jack patted his oldest son on the back and said "You'll find a way, I'm sure of it, you always do." About that time Joe popped his head in the door and said "here's my message to mom" and Logan said "take it to Shelley and give it to her and she will upload it to the log buoy. "Ok" quipped Joe and turned around and took off. Logan looked at Jack and said "Don't tell me that I was ever that chipper!" Jack chuckled and said "No, in fact you were just the opposite; you were a bear until you had about three cups of mud down you, but Joe doesn't even touch coffee." "And he calls himself a sailor?" Logan asked grinning. "No, he calls himself a fighter pilot" Jack replied. "Ah, I see, the ship is just a tool to get him to where he can go fly and fight" Logan surmised. They both chuckled, then Jack said "Listen I am going to the bridge so why don't you just use this console and do your message here?" "Thanks dad" Logan said and sat down at the console and gave Jack his disc. Then he inserted a new disc in and started:

"Hi Sweetheart, Hi Steph. I have good news and bad news. The good news is that I am alive and well. The bad news is that the ship is in the Delta Quadrant. We can only make two jumps per day or we run the risk of running out of fuel before we get home, so I am going to be here for four maybe five years. Hopefully there will be more of these wormholes and I can send more recordings, but I want you both to know that I love you both. Stephanie be good and mind your mother; don't give her a hard time about anything because she has enough on her plate as it is. Mary I'll get back as soon as I possibly can. I could let Q fix the computer to get us home in one jump, but he's the reason we're here in the first place. He rigged the computer to jump here so he could be assimilated by the Borg. He promised he would get us home, but I can't trust him. I am afraid that if I let him near the ship's computer system again he would send us to who knows where. So the logical thing is to get home the normal way. I love you both, I'll see you when I can."

He stopped recording, took out the disc and left his father's cabin and headed to the bridge. When he reached the bridge he handed his disc to his first officer who loaded it on to the log buoy then he went down the ladder and turned and went down the next ladder until he came to sciff. He signed in and was allowed in. He asked if they knew what caused them to be able to talk and it was confirmed that it was a wormhole, but it was a small one, too small for a ship to go through, but the log buoy should have no problem. When he finished talking there he went back to the bridge to stand his bridge watch.

_Two Hours Later…_

Shelley came up the ladder to the bridge from CIC and said "the log buoy is ready to launch." Logan asked "did everyone on ship get a chance to make a recording?" Shelley said "Yes, but most just sent it directly to me rather than walk it to the bridge." Logan nodded his head and told her to launch it and to send the signal up to the bridge so he could talk to Marsha. She smiled and went back down the ladder. Logan heard Marsha's voice and he said "Marsha do you hear me?" Marsha said "Yes, I do." "Did you get the buoy?" Logan asked. "Yes, we just got it" came the response. Logan then said "I don't know when I'll be able to talk to you again, but let Fleet Command know that we are in good shape. The ship is undamaged and the crew's moral is good, especially now. Tell them that we will be back as soon as we can, and we will keep an open frequency in case we find anymore wormholes. If we find one large enough for the ship to come home we'll take it, but sciff has informed me that this one is just too small." Marsha said "Will do, and we will do whatever we can to get you back here as soon as possible. And don't worry about Mary and Stephanie, I'll make sure their fine; and your mom too." "Thank you Marsha that means the world to me" Logan said. Then he said "USS Hancock Out." Marsha said "USS Cloud Williams Out." Then the line went dead and Logan turned and looked at the helm and said "180 degree turn and resume course and speed.


	4. Chapter 3 Against All Odds

This writer does not own Star Trek or any of its affiliates. He only owns his own story line and ideas

Chapter Three

Against All Odds

"Captain's log August 20th 2407: this is the third week of our isolation in the delta quadrant. The crew seems to be accepting the idea that they may not be able to see their families for a couple of years as long as we can remain in contact with fleet command through the wormholes. Again the Q entity has requested that I allowed him to set the computer so that we can get back in one jump, but I am just not comfortable with allowing him near one of our computers again. Him getting hold of our computer is what has stranded as in the delta quadrant in the first place…." About that time Logan heard "Captain to the bridge" on the ship's 1MC. Logan picked up the receiver and pushed the button for the bridge and heard Commander Meyers say "bridge." "What is it Commander?" Logan asked. "Sir, sensors have picked up high radiation readings dead ahead." Commander Meyers reported. "All stop" Logan said. He listened as he heard the engines come to a stop, he picked up his jacket and headed towards the door. When he reached the door his two marine guards snapped to attention, "as you were, take me to the bridge." As he walked through the passage ways going up one ladder through one hatch and on another he finally came to the elevator for the superstructure, the three of them boarded the elevator and headed to the bridge.

As he entered the bridge he heard "Captain's on the bridge," Logan said in a low voice "as you were." He looked at Shelley who was sitting in the captain's chair and said "what do you got?" Shelly said "The radiation readings are high, too high for us to go through we're going to have to go around." Logan picked up the receiver or the sound powered phones and hit the button for SCIFF "bridge to Sciff." "Go ahead bridge" came the reply. Logan came back and said "prepare an Alpha class probe and let me know when it is ready." "Yes sir we'll let you know Sciff out." Logan took his seat and patiently waited for the call from Sciff.

_20 Minutes later…_

"Sciff to bridge." "Go ahead" Logan replied. "Sir, the probe is ready to be launched" came the call and Logan replied "launch." Logan heard the dome above the bridge opening up, he could hear the electronics as they began working in the room behind him. He then heard a short blast and saw the probe heading off towards the radiation field. He sat back and waited, he wanted to get all the information that he could before making a decision on how to proceed. Everyone stood still as if waiting for some catastrophe to happen when Logan looked around and said "Did we take a work day off that I was unaware of? Get back to your jobs; whatever this is we'll figure it out, but we all still have jobs to do so turn to." The phrase "turn to" was an old phrase which was widely used in the Navy even as far back as the 20th century. It simply meant to get busy or get to work; something every sailor knew full well. With that phrase coming out of the Captain's mouth everyone went back to work.

Logan looked at Shelley and she grinned that devilish grin of her's and said "A little mid-morning snack?" Logan chuckled and said "Nah, I just don't want them spending time worrying about something they can't change one way or the other. The decision on how to proceed will be made by you, me and dad. The rest of the ship needs to know that we still have a chain of command, and that there is still a work structure here." Shelley nodded her head and said "I couldn't agree with you more."

Logan heard the whirring of the 1MC and he picked up the receiver and said "Bridge." "Captain," came the reply "the first readings for the probe have come back, and I think you had better come down here." Logan looked at Shelley and said "Get dad, tell him to come to Sciff, and you join us there." He looked at Lt. J.G. Hardin and said "Hardin you have the bridge until I return." Hardin stiffed up and said "Ssss…sir?" Logan grinned and said "Nothing to it, just sit her and look important, everyone knows their jobs." Hardin was fresh out of the Academy and he was shy anyway, and to be placed in the Captain's seat unnerved him, but he did not want to disappoint the Captain so he sat down." As Logan started to walk away Hardin said "Captain?" Logan sighed and asked "What is it Hardin?" Hardin said "What if we have an emergency, or what if we have to go to general quarters?" Logan said "do you know how to use the 1MC to reach Sciff?" "Yes sir!" Hardin replied. Logan nodded his head and smiled and said "If something like that should happen you just pick up the phone, and call me, I'll walk you through whatever you need to do." With that Logan disappeared down the ladder towards CIC.

Bakker stood with the captain, by the console, waiting for the Admiral and first officer to arrive. He was one of the few non-military personnel that worked on the ship. He was actually attached to the CIA and it was normally his job to gather intel on an enemy, but there wasn't much of a need for that at this time and place so he, and others like him that worked in Schiff, gathered intel on their location and where they could obtain supplies.

When Jack and Shelley arrived they all gathered around the console to look at the readings that the probe had sent back. Bakker said "The radiation is very high so we will need to go around it, but the real problem is not that it is radiation, but where it came from." Logan looked at him inquisitively and asked "where it came from?" "Yes sir" Bakker replied. "According to the readings that were sent back to us the radiation came from a nuclear reactor made by us" Bakker added. Logan looked around the room for a moment and then asked "How do you explain that?" "Sir, the reactor came from the _Intrepid_" Bakker replied. Logan slowly shook his head and said "Nooooo, the _Intrepid _and the _Yorktown_ were both destroyed months ago in the Omega quadrant." "I don't know what to tell you sir, but I do know that this radiation came from the number two reactor of the _Intrepid_."

Shelley looked at Logan and asked "Is it possible that the _Yorktown_ also survived that explosion and is out here somewhere?" "Let's not get ahead of ourselves Shelley" Logan said "the _Intrepid_ has been destroyed, so we don't know anything about the _Yorktown_, or even if it survived the explosion. It is very possible that the _Intrepid_ was blown into the delta quadrant through a worm hole and then exploded." "I don't think so Captain" Bakker cut in. "Why not?" Logan inquired. "Well…because we can only find radiation from one reactor and the _Intrepid_ had two and it also had nine nukes. It looks more like a scuttle than anything else, and if the _Yorktown_ was with the _Intrepid_ they could have taken the first reactor apart along with the nukes and everything that they needed to fix up the _Yorktown_ and scuttled the _Intrepid_ to keep anyone from using our technology" Bakker replied.

Logan stood for a moment than he asked: "Dad, Shelley, do you think we should continue to make jumps or do you think we should stay at sub-light speeds to look for the _Yorktown_?" Jack said "If the _Yorktown_ is out here, I feel that we should look for it." Shelley added "I agree, I think we should make sure before moving on. Logan thought about it for a few minutes then picked up the receiver and hit the button for the bridge, and when Hardin answered Logan said "Lt. I want you to have the navigator to plot a course left of the radiation field and when that is done, I want you to follow that course at full speed. Do you have that?" "Copy that Captain" Hardin said and Logan then said "I'll be back on the bridge shortly. Engage." Logan could feel his ship tilting to the port side slightly then heading out. He had gotten used to hearing the roar of the engines, and they always had a calming effect on him.

He looked at Bakker, Shelley and Jack and said "if they survived out here they've done it against all odds. There is no telling what they are facing now, so let's see if we can find them and help them out."


	5. Chapter Four: Born of Fire

This writer does not own Star Trek or any of its affiliates. He only owns his own story line and ideas

Chapter Four

Born Of Fire

Ambassador Picard stood looking out over the large auditorium where in just a few minutes the counsel for the Federation would be meeting and part of the discussion would be whether or not to allow Omega 4 into the Federation. Many opposed their acceptance on the grounds that the Omegans were carriers of a virus left over from their third world war wherein biological weapons were used. Many in Star Fleet Intelligence as well as Section 31 oppose the acceptance of Omega 4 into the Federation; and Section 31 has suggested that Star Fleet go to war with Omega 4 in order to beat them back to their planet, take away their ability to leave their planet so they can't inflict their disease on anyone. In Jean-Luc's eyes this would be disastrous for the Federation, and he was not the only one who held this view.

While he stood there Captains Riker and Data walked toward him, both with concerned looks on their faces. "What are we going to do about this?" Riker asked. "I'm not sure, but I think that Ambassador Spock is back and has agreed to speak for the Omegans. He seems to know how to get people to listen, so I suggest that we follow his lead" Picard replied. Both Captains agreed and the three of them walked down the stairwell to the auditorium.

Over the next few minutes people began to come in and take their respective seats while the counsel came in and sat down in their seats. Mr. Spock came in the Vulcan to Earth ambassador's seat which was next to Picard. Mr. Spock looked at Picard and nodded and said "Mr. Ambassador," and Picard nodded (smiling) and said "Mr. Ambassador." Then both solemnly looked to the front.

The time went by slowly as the counsel dealt with the mundane business of the Federation and Star Fleet until finally the last item on the docket was the induction of Omega 4 into the Federation.

The Counsel Chairman spoke: "We have an application by the planet Omega 4 which the inhabitants call 'Earth' to join the Federation. I have read the application, they are technologically enough to be added. They do have one draw-back and that is a virus that was left over from their third world war, that when they come into contact with other races those races have to stay with them for 72 hours in order to allow the virus to go dormant and then it won't be a problem. Is this correct?"

One of the council members said "It is correct Mr. Chairman, and this is why many of us don't believe that they have any right to join the Federation. As a matter of fact many of us, myself included, believe that their ships should be taken from them and them not allowed to leave their planet so they can't spread this virus."

It was at that time that Spock arose and said "Members of the Counsel, may I speak?" The Chairman indicated for him to speak and he continued: "I was present in 2262 when the Enterprise and Exeter discovered this planet. I bore witnessed to the things that these people will do to survive. Within thirty years after we left these people were building space ships out of rubble. When the Romulans destroyed their ship yards in 2290, they turned around and built a battleship for space and a star carrier. Each of these ships was twice the size of any ship that Star Fleet currently has. They carried on a war with the Romulans until the Romulans sued for peace.

The Hancock, one of their latest star carriers, is five thousand, five hundred and fifty feet in length and Seventeen hundred feet in width. The ship is six hundred feet in depth. It is heavily plated with titanium armor plating. It has deflector screens and full shields. It carries over one hundred fighter craft; their most recent is called the 'Edi Ucav Talon' which has artificial intelligence to help the pilot in hitting the target. The ship has two turrets of sixteen inch guns that shoot one thousand pound shells with a cobalt tip. One turret is on top, and one is on the bottom. On each turret is three sixteen inch guns, three eight inch guns (which shoots five hundred pound shells), and three five inch guns which will shoot either explosive shells or regular, whichever is needed.

If you intend to take these people on, you need to know what you are in for. This one carrier could take on about a half a dozen of Star Fleet's finest warships and then, because it has jump drive technology, it could jump out of the battle safely, and then jump back when our ships least expect it.

Now while the Hancock is in the Delta Quadrant right now, they have two more of these carriers—The Enterprise SCVAN 42; and The Cloud Williams SCVAN 43. You do not want to go to war with these people. They are battle hardened, and war is all they know. They were born in fire.

Right now they are talking about building exploration ships—science ships. They want to call the first one The Newton after Sir Isaac Newton and the other The Galileo after Galileo Galilei. They are willing to work with Federation scientists to clear up their atmosphere and get rid of the virus in their bodies, but if you try to take their ships from them beware because you will find yourselves engaged in the worst war the Federation has ever engaged in. Remember these people came through a nuclear and biological world war, and I doubt the Federation has anything that could top that." Then Spock sat down.

A voice from the floor stated "Vulcans are always suggesting caution, if they had their way we wouldn't be in space today." Another said "Amen to that."

Then Spock stood up and turned and said "If humans would approach things with a little more caution they wouldn't set off as many wars as they do." Picard smiled and said "Amen."

Another person said "Maybe these people don't deserve to be in space." There were several amens.

Picard rose up and said "Who are we to tell the Omegans that they cannot go into space. They are there, and have neither asked for nor received help from us. We cannot hope to win in any war with them. We are not ready for the kind of war they would give us. They are still using nuclear weapons, is that what you want?" and a hush fell on the crowd.

The chairman then stood up and asked: "They still have nuclear weapons?"

Picard said "They have them, and only intend to use them as a last resort. The captain of their Saratoga used nuclear weapons on a borg cube as a last resort, and when that didn't work she rammed the cube after tying all eight nuclear reactors together along with her seven remaining nuclear missiles and this destroyed the Borg cube."

The chairman said "This is something we will have to look at in a later session, but I don't feel we have enough information to make an informed decision. Meanwhile, I have heard a lot of talk about going to war with these people so let me make myself clear. Do not agitate them, we cannot afford to go to war with them under any circumstance." With that being said he dismissed the counsel and everyone left.


	6. Chapter 5 Attack On Omega 4

This writer does not own Star Trek or any of its affiliates. He only owns his own story line and ideas

Chapter Five

Attack on Omega 4

Ambassadors Spock and Picard walked slowly as they talked about the session of the day when Picard said "I really don't like the way things ended here! I realize that a mandate has been given not to attack the Omegans, but I feel uneasy and I don't know why."

Spock said "I understand your feelings on the matter for I, too, am uneasy about this. I didn't realize so many prominent Starfleet Officers were unopposed to taking up arms against these people. Picard, I saw them at their worst and believe me you can kill them by the thousands and they will keep coming. They seem to have no fear in them, and I am concerned that the Federation will get involved in a war that could destroy it. If these people ever did weaponize their virus, like the Romulans did, they could wipe out anything that got in their way. No…I think the best way would be to let these people remain peaceful."

At that moment Spock and Picard saw people running towards the operations room of Starfleet headquarters and they hurriedly followed. When they got in they could hear what the commotion was all about. They heard traffic from several starships:

"Zhukov, this is the Sentinel, get around behind that big carrier in the lead and see if you can take out its engines."

"Sentinel, this is the Zhukov their shields are too powerful on it" then the traffic from the Zhukov stopped."

"Sentinel to Zhukov…do you copy? Sentinel to Zhukov…do you copy?"

"Valley Forge to Sentinel the Zhukov was destroyed, we have taken several hits. Their cobalt tipped shells are destroying our shields."

Spock looked at Picard and mouthed "Cobalt tipped shells?" Picard rolled his eyes, and hung his head.

"Sentinel to fleet scatter and regroup back in the alpha quadrant."

Then the operations officer pushed the mic key and said "Starfleet command to the USS Sentinel…come in. Starfleet command to the USS Sentinel come in." Then the Sentinel answered "Sentinel to ,Starfleet we read you." "Sentinel where are you and what is your mission?" the operations officer inquired. "Starfleet, I'll apprise the admiral when and if we return, right now we have an enemy ship on our si…" and the communication was lost.

The operations officer looked at his superior and said "I don't know sir, I don't know where they could be or what could have happened to them." The commander said "the minute you reconnect with them, you get back with me" and left the room.

_2 Hours Earlier_

It was a beautiful day of sunshine, the temperature was a perfect 72 degrees in Washington DC and Stephanie McDaniel had just walked in from school. She looked at her mother and asked "Any news from dad?"

"Nope, sorry kiddo…nadda, I wish there was because frankly I miss him too" Mary said.

Stephanie said, "You know I am going to be a captain in the Navy when I grow up. Who knows maybe I'll get the Hancock!"

They both chuckled and Mary said "Oh…you don't usually get a carrier right off the bat; you usually have to start with something smaller like a destroyer or an ATS. And besides that by that time the Hancock will be obsolete, ready for the scrap heap."

"Huh uh..." Stephanie said "Hanna will never get the scrap heap."

"I don't know…" Mary said "I did some research and in the year 1976 the Navy scrapped the aircraft carrier Hancock."

"Yeah, but Mom, that ship was built in 1945 and it went through three wars, the end of World War 2, the Korean War, and the Viet-Nam War and in those years it sailed through the oceans and seas. That's hard on a ship, but our Hanna doesn't have to sail through oceans and seas, it just travels through space, and it has shields—soooo…it will never see the scrap heap" Stephanie said with a smile on her face.

Mary looked at her and decided that she wasn't going to win this argument, so she said "Alright, but as for right now you are still my little girl, so I want your homework done before dinner." And with that Stephanie happily skipped away to her room.

_Above the Earth in the Earth's Defense Force Station Control Room_.

Ensign Delmar George sat looking out into deep space wondering if he was ever going to do anything exciting. All he ever did was to sit here at his console opening the defense shield for ships as they come in. He was off duty the morning the Borg attacked, so he didn't get to be part of the action. "Just my miserable luck!" he thought as he looked at the clock on the console. It said "1630 Hrs," which means that he only had another hour and a half of this boredom.

Suddenly it seemed as though lighting struck and George found himself facing five ships, unlike anything he had ever seen: "Exciting enough for you Delmar?" he asked himself. "Who are these guys?"

"This is the Earth Defense Force Station, uh….uh, identify yourselves and state…and state your…your" he was breathing very heavy, but he continued "and state your business here. What can I do for you?" There was no answer from any of the ships.

George found the frequency of Command Task Force and sent the following message: "EDF to CTF five ships of unknown origin have entered our space and are facing the gate at this time. Need immediate instruction and assistance."

_Command Task Force San Francisco, California_.

Petty Officer 2nd Class radioman Cicile Colman took a sip of her hot tea when the call came in from Earth's Defense Force: "EDF to CTF five ships of unknown origin have entered our space and are facing the gate at this time. Need immediate instruction and assistance."

"Lt" Colman cried out. "What!" Lt. Waller retorted. He was tired of Coleman always getting too excited over nothing. "What do you want?" he asked.

"Lt, EDF sent us an urgent message sir" then she replayed the message. Waller listened to the message and looked at the scopes. He then keyed the mic and said "CTF to EDF come in!" There was nothing but silence. He tried several times, but all he got in return was silence. Waller said "Well…ignore it, it's probably nothing" when his sentence was cut short by the deafening sound of an explosion nearby.

_On the Bridge of the Sentinel_

The communication's officer turned to the Captain and said "Sir, we are picking up a message from the station. They are asking who we are and what our intentions are."

Captain Harrigan turned to his communication's officer and said "Instruct the Zhukov to head towards the gate." As the communication's officer gave the Zhukov the instructions Harrigan turned to the weapon's officer, Ens. Georgina Rollins, and ordered: "Lock torpedoes on that station."

Rollins couldn't believe her ears! Did he just give her an order that would possibly kill an innocent? She turned and said "Sir?"

Harrigan glared at her "Do you have hearing problems Ensign?"

"No sir, but isn't this in violation of General Order One?" Rollins asked.

"Ensign, we are working under General Order Twenty Four which authorizes us to destroy all life on an entire planet" Harrigan told her. "Now, lock torpedoes on target."

"Sir Starfleet Directive 010 says: 'Before engaging alien species in battle, any and all attempts to make first contact and achieve nonmilitary resolution must be made,' and we have not made any attempt to make first contact with them" Rollins countered.

"Ensign" Harrigan stood up pulling a phaser from his belt "I grow tired of this debate, so let's pretend that I am the Captain, and you are the Ensign. Now lock torpedoes on target."

Rollins looked at the face staring at her in the monitor from the station; the face of a very scared Ensign and she thought "What's the worst he could do to her if she refused? The worst he could do is the court-martial and she had Starfleet Regulations on her side." She grasped for breath and turned and said "No Sir, this is wrong and you know it!"

Harrigan was tired of this, he walked to the weapon's platform and pointed his phaser at the young ensign and ordered in a loud and firm voice "LOCK TORPEDOES ON TARGET, NOW."

Rollins' hand moved to the locking selection key and pressed it. She watched as the locking mechanism zeroed in on the control station, and when it was finished she sat there frozen. Harrigan ordered "Fire."

Rollins sat there with tears in her eyes as she looked at the young Ensign in the control station doing everything possible to get help, and she finally said "No Sir, this is wrong, it murder and you know it. This isn't our mission, and I won't do it."

Harrigan placed the phaser against her head and said "Fire, or die."

"Then I'll die, sir. I won't commit murder" she said.

Harrigan grabbed her right hand with the phaser still against her head and placed her right hand on the fire plunger, and said "FIRE."

Again, Rollins refused to fire the torpedoes. Harrigan placed his hand on top of her's and pushed down as Rollins tried to get her hand free the plunger went down and the torpedoes were fired. She watched as the quantum torpedoes tore through the shield and the control station killing the young Ensign.

Rollins felt very sick and she started throwing up on herself. Harrigan looked at her and yelled "YOU ANIMAL, YOU ARE A DISGRACE TO THE UNIFORM. YOU ARE RELIEVED OF DUTY. GET OFF MY BRIDGE." He then instructed security to escort her to her quarters and confine her there.

Rollins sat in her quarters after cleaning herself up throughout the duration of the attack and then she felt the Sentinel get underway. They hadn't been gone more than a few minutes when she felt the ship shudder from weapons fire. After a brief, but furious, fire fight she felt the ship drop out of warp. She heard on the com that they were about to be boarded. She sat down on her bed and waited for the enemy to come and do to her what she had done to that poor man locked in that control room. After all it is what she deserved, as far as she was concerned.


End file.
